Electric light receptacle



Dec. 6, 1949 s. P. BOWER ET AL ELECTRIC LIGHT RECEPTACLE Filed Oct. 5, 1948 INVENTOR.

STEWART P. BOWER By FREDERICK P. WARRIOK ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 6, 1949 OFF-l CE "2 490576 ELnoTmoLtoH'r RE'oERTAcnE Stewart PiBowerand FrederickPfiWarrick, "Detroit, Mich.

Applicatiomflctoher gfi, 1948,:1Serial'No. 52.9.25

This invention relates to an electric light receptacle and, in particular, it relates to aimeans for holding and forming electrical contacts With an electric light bulb. Our invention contemplates an electric bulb receptacle such as used for ornamental purposes in connection with Christmas-trees. One of the disadvantages of electric lights used for Christmas tree purposes is that the lights areconnected'in series and, therefore, in the event one of the light bulbs burns out the circuit-is broken and. all ofithe lights inthe series are extinguished. It then becomes difiicult lto locate'the particular light which is burned out. Usually, "this is accomplished by progressively .inserting anew bulbin each receptacle until the burned out bulb is located. When this occurs the circuit is properly energized and all of the lights in the series become lit.

In accordance with the practice of our invention, we have found thata certain'type of light receptacle may be formed which by merely squeezing the receptacle short circuits the line in that particular receptacle, thus completing the-circuit without the aid'of a bulb in thesocket. Therefore, when a string of lights-goes out it'is merely necessary to apply a gentle pressure with thethumb and forefinger against each socket, and

when the socket of the burned out bulb is located the remaining lights in the circuit will be energized. This-operation may be performed easily andquickly, andthe burned out bulb located and replaced.

In order to accomplishthe eflect ofour invention,.the receptacle xis formed of relatively soft rubber .cr similar rubbery plastic composition. The contacts vwithin the receptacle are spaced apart for normal operation, but are close enough togethersogthat manual pressureon the receptacle will cause the :contacts to engage for completing the circuit.

Another advantage ofour invention is that the receptacle beingformed ofrelatively soft rubber does not require the conventional female threads to be associated withthe receptacle. We have found that it ismerely necessary .to provide a cylindrical opening in the rubberreceptacleand that a conventional threaded base light bulb may be pushedintmthereceptacle andhe'ld therein by means. of the resiliencyotthe rubber composition.

.A jfurther advantage of our inventionis that becauseiof the resilient nature of .the receptacle we provide,.as an integral partner the receptacle, a pair of fingers or projections resiliently movable, and which function to clamp onto a branch or limb of the Christmas tree.

4 Claims. ((31. 200--5,l- 12) Other advantages include the simplicity. ofthe contact terminals, the reduction in the number of parts in the receptacle, and the ability to manufacture the receptacle efficientlypand economically.

These and otherobjects and advantages will appear more fully in the following detailed description when consideredjin connection-with-the accompanying drawing'in which:

Figure 1 .is a side elevational Viewed a -;receptacle forming an embodiment of our inven tion;

Figure 2' -is an enlarged elevational view, in section ofthe receptacle;

Figure 3- is a top plan viewthereof;

Figure 4is a bottom view thereof ;--and Figure 5is an elevational-view; insection, of

te-receptacle illustrating its operation-by-inanual pressure thereagainst.

With reference to the drawingand, in particular; to Figures 1 and'2,--we show an-embodiment' ofour invention in the form of an electric light receptacle comprising, essentially, a cylindrical member .I of resilient material having afbore 2 formed axially of-the member I and extending substantially half-way:throughthe'length 0fthe member I. 'An enlargement 3 at the bore end of the member I forms areinforcing collarrat therendof themember. "The opposite. end 0f-;.the

member I includes :aiitaper :4, andan aperture 5-:extzends transversely through the member I. A-slot 1,6 communicates with the aperture .5 and the end of the member I.

. At the base or bottom :of ,the 'bore- 2 isea :groove 1 adapted .tozreceive a contact cmemberra. contact .--member ,8 ;is' formed of :a :strip of metal bent in .L -shape. One-leg oi the contact--member=8 rests in the groove 1, and the ot-hg-zrlegv of the contact member slips :into an aperture :9 extending, from the base of the bore ;'-2 'tothe :op-

posi-teenid of .the member -l. 'r'lhi-sapertureailiis- .locatedibetween the, slotrtrandzthe outer surrace of the cylindrical member i.

At ;.the opposite side .of th member :1 and located along one -side of the :bore ;2;is aisecondcontactmember it; This member is retainedtin Place .by being. supported in-an aperture H exthe contact member In a distance sumcient so L that an engagement of the two contact members may be made by manual pressure on the outer surface of the receptacle l. About 5 inch is satisfactory as a spac between the contact members. This space may be decreased about inch or increased to inch depending on the resilience of the material composition of the receptacle.

In Figure 5 the receptacle is shown with the light bulb M in place. conventional type which includes a base in the form of male threads. The bore 2 formed in the member I is of such size that the base I5 of the bulb may be slipped in place in th bore in a manner so that the surrounding wall of the receptacle is of sufficient resilience to form indentations in the wall complementary with a portion of the thread base so as to hold same firmly in place. One side of the base [5 is supported by and forms a contact with the contact member 10. The side directly opposed to the contact member I9 is gripped securely by the resilient wall of the receptacle. The contact member 8 at the bottom of the bore 2 engages secondary contact member I5 of the light bulb. By this arrangement a circuit is made with the light bulb and the bulb is securely held in place. Furthermore, the bulb may be quickly inserted by this arrangement and it may be quickly removed. This is an advantage over conventional screw sockets of this type wherein the base frequently becomes frozen with the socket.

In the use of a receptacle of this type the socket may be applied to a branch or limb of the Christmas tree by merely opening the slot 6 by forcing it against such branch or limb. The resiliency of the material of the socket is sufiicient to grip the branch or limb and maintain the socket in the desired fixed position relative to the Christmas tree. number of sockets are assembled on the tree and bulbs are inserted in the socket, a defective bulb may be easily located by merely squeezing the socket, as indicated in Figure 5, by the hand ll.

When the socket is squeezed sufficient to make a contact between the contact members 8 and [0, the particular bulb in that receptacle is cut out by a short circuit of the contact members. This completes the circuit with the remaining bulbs which will light up, thus indicating the location of the defective bulb and making replacement a relatively easy task.

As thus shown and described, it is believed apparent that we have provided a novel socket having a plurality of useful functions associatel in a combination resulting directly from the character of the material constituting the main body portion of th receptacle. While we have shown a preferred embodiment of our invention it is to be understood that it is susceptible of those modifications which appear obviously within the spirit of the invention and as appearing in the scope of the appended claims.

This light bulb is of After the proper given Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A receptacle for an electric light bulb comprising, a body member formed of a resilient rubbery composition having a bore extending in one end thereof, a metallic member forming an electrical contact positioned at the base of said bore, a second metallic member forming a second electrical contact positioned in said bore longitudinally along the wall thereof, said electrical contacts being spaced apart a distance such that manual pressure against the sides of the resilient receptacle causes engagement of the contacts, and a wire connected to each of said contacts.

2. A receptacle for an electric light bulb comprising, a body member formed of a resilient rubbery composition having a bore extending in one end thereof, a metallic member forming an electrical contact positioned at the base of said bore, a second metallic member forming a second electrical contact positioned in said bore longitudinally along the wall thereof, said electrical contacts being spaced apart a distance not greater than inch, and a wire connected to each of said contacts.

3. A receptacle for an electric light bulb comprising, a body member formed of a resilient rubbery composition having a bore extending in one end thereof, said body member being formed of a rubbery composition having resilience in the order of from 40 to 65 durometer, a metallic member forming an electrical contact positioned at the base of said bore, a second metallic member forming a second electrical contact positioned in said bore longitudinally along the wall thereof, said electrical contacts being spaced apart a distance not greater than A; inch, and a wire connected to each of said contacts.

4. A receptacle for an electric light bulb comprising, a body member formed of a resilient rubbery composition having a bore extending in one end thereof, said body member having a groove in the base of said bore and having an aperture extending from the groove in the base of the bore to the opposite end of said body member, a metallic member forming an electrical contact positioned in said groove and extending in tight fit in said aperture, said body member having an opening extending from the base of said bore to the opposite end of said body member, a second metallic member forming a second electrical contact positioned in said opening in tight fit therewith and extending longitudinally along the wall of said bore, said electrical contacts being spaced apart a distance such that manual pressure against the sides of the resilient receptacle causes engagement of the contacts, and a wire connected to each of said contacts.

STEWART P. BOWER. FREDERICK P. WARRICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,820,261 White Aug. 25, 1931 2,119,146 Adams May 31, 1938 2,151,882 Woodhead Mar. 28, 1939 2,299,733 Benander Oct. 27, 1942 

